Visualization Tag Specifications

The below table contains the full list of data that can be overlaid on the floor plan visualization images. It is possible to combine multiple data tags by separating them with a comma within the Visualization tag. For example, the following tag overlays Access Points, Walls, and Survey Routes on the image: <#"visualization": {"aps": "true", "walls": "true", "surveys": "true"}#>.

The visualization tags must be enclosed within a floor loop. They may also be enclosed within access point loop, in which case visualizations will be made for each access point separately.

Display width of the visualization, in millimeters. Set to negative to use default width.

width-in-inches

[-1.0]

Same as width-in-millis, except unit is in inches.

resolution-width

[-1.0]

Resolution of the rendered visualization. Unit is in pixels. This can be used to save space on the generated report. Set to negative to use original resolution of the map image.

power-ch

"max-all-ch"

The channel for which to display spectrum channel power. Can be either a specific channel number or “max-all-ch” for the highest channel.

utilization-ch

"max-all-ch"

The channel for which to display spectrum utilization. Can be either a specific channel number or “max-all-ch” for the highest channel.

It is not necessary to define all parameters for the visualization tag. ESS will automatically use the default value when the parameter is not specified.

Data Visualization Example

The following example iterates through all the floor in the project and dislays Signal Strength heatmap, AP positions, and Survey paths on the images for all the floors.

<#“loop-start”: {“type”: “floors”}#>
Signal Strength Visualization (This line is printed as many times as how many floors there are in the project)
<#"visualization": {"heatmap": {"type": "sig-strength"}, "aps": "true", "surveys": "true"}#>
<#“loop-end””: {“type”: “floors”}#>

Example with Multiple Visualization Heatmaps

The following example iterates through all the floor in the project and displays SNR, Noise, and Signal Strength heatmaps for all the floors. Please note, that heat maps are always shown as separate images and cannot be combined together into one image.

Should black contours be painted around the heatmap areas? This value is relevant for all heatmap types. Possible values are:“true” – Show contours “false” – Don’t show contours

range-abs-min

[Depends on type]

Lower bounds for the color range (top legend sliders)

range-abs-max

[Depends on type]

Upper bounds for the color range (top legend sliders)

range-cutout-min

[Depends on type]

Lower bounds for the visualization cut-out (bottom legend sliders)

range-cutout-max

[Depends on type]

Upper bounds for the visualization cut-out (bottom legend sliders)

requirement-grey-out

[Depends on type]

Enable or disable the requirement grey-out. The limit for the requirement grey-out is taken from the active Coverage Requirement profile within ESS (This threshold value cannot be changed by the use-requirement tag). Values below this limit will be greyed-out. Can be used with Channel Overlap, Interference/Noise, Number of APs, Packet Loss, Signal Strength, and SNR visualizations. Possible values are:“true” – Show Requirement Grey-out “false” – Don’t show Requirement Grey-out

range-min (deprecated since version 7.6)

[Depends on type]

Low value for the heatmap range. Values that are between the min and max range are colored according to the color range.

range-max (deprecated since version 7.6)

[Depends on type]

Highest value for the heatmap range. Values that are between the min and max range are colored according to the color range.

The visualization color range will be a gradient of the given list of colors. The colors in the list are separated with a dash “–“. A single color is formatted as “#RRGGBB” where RR is the red color intensity, GG is the green color intensity and BB is the blue color intensity. An intensity is defined as a hexadecimal number ranged from 00 to FF. There are also a number of pre-defined colors for simplicity: red, green, white, lightgray, gray, darkgray, black, pink, orange, yellow, magenta, cyan, blue, lightbrown and darkbrown.

What adapter was used for scanning? List of supported options changes often, so they are not listed in this document. Open ESS for a list of possible adapters. The adapter name must be copied exactly as it appears in ESS English version. Pre-defined “raw” adapters are: “Raw Measurements”, "Raw (5GHz only)", "Raw (2.4GHz only)", "Raw (802.11n only)", Raw (802.11bg only), "Raw (802.11a only)", "Raw (802.11ac only)" and "Generic a/b/g"

Access Point Filter for the Heatmap

You can also make heat maps only for specific access points by using access points filter. These following parameters allow you see specify which AP results are shown in the reported heat map:

Name

Default value

Value

name

“*”

Filter access points by name. The name may contain one wildcard “*” that matches anything. Can be placed inside “include” block for inclusive filtering (default) or “exclude” block for exclusive filtering.

owner

“any”

Filter access points by owner. Can be placed inside “include” block for inclusive filtering (default) or “exclude” block for exclusive filtering. Possible values are as follows: “any” - All access points“my” - Only access points that are mine“other” - Only access points that are not mine

Filter access points that operate on one of the specified channels. This may include multiple “,”-separated channels and/or “-“-separated channel ranges. Can be placed inside “include” block for inclusive filtering (default) or “exclude” block for exclusive filtering.

band

“any”

Filter to only include radios that operate on the specified band. Can be placed inside “include” block for inclusive filtering (default) or “exclude” block for exclusive filtering. Possible values are:“any” – All bands“2.4” – 2.4 GHz band“5” – 5 GHz band

Example with Access Point Filter for Visualization Heatmap

The below example displays Signal Strength heatmap only for My Access Points on channels 1, 6, 11, and 36-48 for all floors in the project.

Filter for Access Point Data on Visualizations

Name

Default value

Value

name

“*”

Filter access points by name. The name may contain one wildcard “*” that matches anything. Can be placed inside “include” block for inclusive filtering (default) or “exclude” block for exclusive filtering.

owner

“any”

Filter access points by owner. Can be placed inside “include” block for inclusive filtering (default) or “exclude” block for exclusive filtering. Possible values are as follows: “any” - All access points“my” - Only access points that are mine“other” - Only access points that are not mine

Filter access points that operate on one of the specified channels. This may include multiple “,”-separated channels and/or “-“-separated channel ranges. Can be placed inside “include” block for inclusive filtering (default) or “exclude” block for exclusive filtering.

band

“any”

Filter to only include radios that operate on the specified band. Can be placed inside “include” block for inclusive filtering (default) or “exclude” block for exclusive filtering. Possible values are:“any” – All bands“2.4” – 2.4 GHz band“5” – 5 GHz band

Example Plain Floor Map with Access Points

The below example displays only My Access Points with AP names and radio / channel info on the plain floor map.

Area Notes Data Visualization Tag (deprecated since ESS 9.0.0)

Area note reporting tags were added in ESS 8.5.2. The Area Notes Data Visualization Tag is used to display area note icons on the visualization image. You can choose which notes and how much info is overlaid on the image.

Parameters for the Area Note Visualization Tag

Name

Default value

Value

show-description

“false”

Should the note description be visible? Possible values:“true” – Show“false” – Don’t show

Filter for Area Notes Data on Visualizations

Name

Default value

Value

description

“*”

Filter area notes by name. The name may contain one wildcard “*” that matches anything. Can be placed inside “include” block for inclusive filtering (default) or “exclude”block for exclusive filtering.

Example Visualization Heatmap with Area notes

The below example displays Area notes with names and number that have description beginning with "Note".

Cable Notes Data Visualization Tag

Cable note reporting tags were added in ESS 8.5.2. The Cable Notes Data Visualization Tag is used to display area cable note icons on the visualization image. You can choose which cable notes and how much info is overlaid on the image.

Parameters for the Cable Note Visualization Tag

Name

Default value

Value

show-description

“false”

Should the note description be visible? Possible values:“true” – Show“false” – Don’t show

In which unit should the cable length be shown. Possible values:“meters” – Show in meters“feet” – Show in feet

Filter for Cable Notes Data on Visualizations

Name

Default value

Value

description

“*”

Filter cable notes by name. The name may contain one wildcard “*” that matches anything. Can be placed inside “include” block for inclusive filtering (default) or “exclude”block for exclusive filtering.

Example Visualization Heatmap with Cable notes

The below example displays Cable notes with names, number and length in feet that have description beginning with "Network".

Picture Notes Data Visualization Tag

Picture note reporting tags were added in ESS 8.5.2. The Picture Notes Data Visualization Tag is used to display area picture/text note icons on the visualization image. You can choose which notes and how much info is overlaid on the image.

Parameters for the Picture Note Visualization Tag

Name

Default value

Value

show-description

“false”

Should the note description be visible? Possible values:“true” – Show“false” – Don’t show

Filter for Picture Notes Data on Visualizations

Name

Default value

Value

description

“*”

Filter picture notes by name. The name may contain one wildcard “*” that matches anything. Can be placed inside “include” block for inclusive filtering (default) or “exclude”block for exclusive filtering.

has-image

“any”

Filter to iterate based on whether the notes have pictures attached to them or not.

Survey Bookmarks Data Visualization Tag

Survey Bookmarks were added in ESS 8.5.2. The Survey Bookmarks Data Visualization Tag is used to display survey bookmark icons on the visualization image. You can choose which bookmarks to show and how much info is overlaid on the image.

Parameters for the Survey Bookmark Visualization Tag

Name

Default value

Value

show-description

“false”

Should the bookmark description be visible? Possible values:“true” – Show“false” – Don’t show

Filter for Survey Bookmarks Data on Visualizations

Name

Default value

Value

band

“any”

Filter to only include bookmarks that have been defined on the specified band. Can be placed inside “include” block for inclusive filtering (default) or “exclude” block for exclusive filtering. Possible values are:“any” – All bands“2.4” – 2.4 GHz band“5” – 5 GHz band

Example Visualization Heatmap with Survey Bookmark icons

The below example displays survey bookmarks with names and number on 2.4Ghz band.

Area Visualization Tag

Areas were added in ESS 9.0.0. The Areas Visualization Tag is used to display areas on the visualization image. You can choose which areas to show and how much info is overlaid on the image.

Parameters for the Area Visualization Tag

Name

Default value

Value

show-name

“false”

Should the area name be visible? Possible values:“true” – Show“false” – Don’t show

Filter for Area on Visualizations

Name

Default value

Description

name

"*"

Filter to only iterate areas with matching name. The name may contain one wildcard “*” that matches anything. Can be placed inside “include” block for inclusive filtering (default) or “exclude” block for exclusive filtering.

requirement-identifier

*

Filter areas that have the given capacity requirement. Can be placed inside “include” block for inclusive filtering (default) or “exclude” block for exclusive filtering. A requirement can be identified as either the direct name of the requirement or the identifier for one of the pre-defined requirements. The available pre-defined requirements are listed in the "Requirements Tag" article

Example Visualization Heatmap with Areas

The below example displays areas and their names, provided that the area name begins with "example"

Exclusion Area Visualization Tag

Exclusion areas were added in ESS 9.0.0. The exclusion area Visualization Tag is used to display exclusion areas on the visualization image. You can choose which exclusion areas to show. Typically you want to show exclusion areas only in conjunction with areas, and with the same filter.

Parameters for the Exclusion Area Visualization Tag

Exclusion areas do not have any parameters.

Filter for Exclusion Area on Visualizations

Name

Default value

Description

name

"*"

Filter to only iterate exclusion areas that intersect with areas with matching name. The name may contain one wildcard “*” that matches anything. Can be placed inside “include” block for inclusive filtering (default) or “exclude” block for exclusive filtering.

requirement-identifier

*

Filter exclusion areas to those that intersect with areas that have the given capacity requirement. Can be placed inside “include” block for inclusive filtering (default) or “exclude” block for exclusive filtering. A requirement can be identified as either the direct name of the requirement or the identifier for one of the pre-defined requirements. The available pre-defined requirements are listed in the "Requirements Tag" article

orphan

"any"

Filter by whether the exclusion areas are orphaned or not. An orphaned exclusion are is one that does not intersect with an area. Possible values are "true" (Only orphaned) and "false" (Not orphaned).Can be placed inside “include” block for inclusive filtering (default) or “exclude” block for exclusive filtering.

Example Visualization Heatmap with Areas and Exclusion Areas

The below example displays exclusion areas that intersect with areas with name beginning with "example"

Filter access points by owner. Can be placed inside “include” block for inclusive filtering (default) or “exclude” block for exclusive filtering. Possible values are as follows: “any” - All access points“my” - Only access points that are mine“other” - Only access points that are not mine